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April 23, 2017 By iluvcinema 2 Comments

FEUD: Bette and Joan

Here, at the outset, I will admit to the following – I was not particularly excited at the prospect of watching Ryan Murphy‘s latest televisual project on FX (FEUD: Bette and Joan). And not because of the subject (obviously). In fact, I have a great appreciation for both Ms.’s Davis and Crawford. The latter, in particular of whom I have developed a particular affinity for in recent years.

It also has nothing to do with Ryan Murphy – whose work I have generally enjoyed on level or another over the past decade.

I decided to meditate on what exactly was holding me back until I was able to figure it out. And here is my conclusion: I think it is to do with the fact that when I think of Bette and Joan, I am drawn to these screen icons and the film that serves as the series’ nexus Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? with a series of evolving emotions about it all.

In other words, while I enjoy the ‘horror’ and suspense of the film, something left me unsettled about how these women, who once were the queens of the studio era were reduced to grotesque caricatures and put on display for our derision and ridicule. All simply for the fact that they have the temerity to have aged. It is all rather disturbing and cruel on so many levels.

However, thanks to the recommendation of some friends, I put this reservation to the side and indulged in a post-TCM Film Festival binge (more to come). And boy, am I glad I did.

As the final episode of this first series has come to a close (on the East Coast), I can think of no way that this story could have been told with more empathy and movingly. FEUD is a story is a love note of sorts to women who the Hollywood studio/factory system so readily discarded and left to be footnotes in the history when they no longer saw value in their talents.

Sure, Bette and Joan’s was a well-storied feud – but to reduce it to petty machinations and entanglements of what took place does a great disservice. Thanks to some wonderful writing and acting, FEUD has really illuminated the full scale of the ‘rivalry,’ which in many ways was orchestrated and agitated by several outside influences, including the public itself.

As for the two women caught up in the tumult, Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, in their takes on Davis and Crawford, give noteworthy performances that peel away the layers of these women to reveal how their back and forth played into and off of their personal demons and insecurities.

Granted, while FEUD is based on actual events, you have to make a few narrative allowances, such as overt exposition about what happened and a bit of melodrama. One standout event of the series is their notorious clash at the 1963 Academy Awards –  an event which Davis friend Olivia deHavilland recently dismissed as not being of much consequence. On the other hand, there is the conceit many audience members may not know the particulars and history of the Baby Jane co-stars, so a little exposition goes a long way.

It is my sincere hope that for any members of the viewing public who may have come into this story cold, I encourage you to examine these women and their careers beyond this hagsploitation (what a word) phase in their body of work.

At its best, FEUD gives its audience enough of a moving and empathetic account of the people, places and events to make us take another look at these women in particular and women in Hollywood in general (both past and present) and how they are treated.

 

Filed Under: Reviews, Television Tagged With: Bette Davis, feud, joan crawford, ryan murphy

September 20, 2016 By iluvcinema Leave a Comment

Definitely Binge-Worthy: The Get Down (2016)

As I get my act together regarding building my television presence online (better late than never I guess), I will use this established space to wax poetic about my latest televisual, or ‘Netflix-ian’ obsession.

Actually, when I think about it, this post is not that far off from the theme of my blog.  The program that I will be discussing has a cinematic tie-in, courtesy of Baz Luhrmann, who is one of the creators of this awesome project. I am speaking about the 6-part limited series The Get Down.

The Get Down

At the start of Episode 1, it is a certainty that our chief protagonist, Ezekiel ‘Zeke’ Figuero, (Justice Smith) has made a success of himself – we see this in the structure of the story – we have snippets of a contemporaneous, narrative performance by an adult Zeke (Hamilton’s Daveed Diggs) that immediately cut back to the South Bronx, 1977 – the primary setting for our story. Zeke and his crew – Shaolin Fantastic (Shameik Moore), Marcus ’Dizzee’ Kipling (Jaden Smith), and his brothers RaRa Kipling (Skylan Brooks),  Boo-Boo Kipling (T.J. Brown, Jr.) traverse the urban landscape, propelled by the lyrically-gifted Zeke, who is using his penchant for composing a mighty fine verse as a vehicle to fly high and escape his present circumstances.

There is also the burgeoning love story between Zeke and Mylene Cruz (Herizen Guardiola), a young lady who is also trying to break free from her surroundings and the strict religious upbringing through the power of her voice. Her saving grace of sorts is her loving uncle Francisco “Papa Fuerte” Cruz (Jimmy Smits) who also happens to be a big cheese around these parts – he seems to have his hand in everything – from community development to music producing.

I think I should probably pause here because I really feel like I am giving a whole lotta plot away. But that is the thing. Over the nearly 6 hour run of the series a lot of stuff is happening, often simultaneously. But the storytellers do a really good job of structuring the story and the movements of the characters in such a way that you don’t feel overwhelmed. And sure Zeke, is the central figure in the machinations of the plot, but to be honest, this is an inspired, ensemble piece where no character is wasted.

Musically, the audience is treated to a blend of the nascent days of hip hop music (cheers to Nas, who I believe also is actually pitting the verses that adult Zeke performed), the glorious days of disco and club music which bellowed in the nightclubs and dance halls of New York City.

Nevertheless, I am not saying that it is a perfect or exacting recounting of the South Bronx of the late 1970s – one that is generally characterized as being mired in urban blight. As one would expect, especially in the first episode (directed by Luhrmann) it is given a ‘Luhrmannian’ luster, vibrancy, grandeur and escapism that were very not much markers of the era if you were living it.

But for all the glamor and glitz, there does lie a raw undercurrent that conveyed the times as they were – from wanton acts of violence and the sense that everything may not turn out the way the audience would want or expect, there is enough forbidding present to create a sense of unease.

Plainly stated, The Get Down is worth your eyeballs. It is Netflix’s costliest production to date and while the buzz around it (from what I have seen) is largely positive, it is not getting the streaming traffic that would probably make Netflix happy given the expense. Which is a shame.

In a world where we continue to bang on and on about representation of all manner of story being told and covering the multitude of the human experience, this is a story worth telling and worth being seen.

Filed Under: Television Tagged With: baz luhrmann, netflix, the get down

December 5, 2015 By iluvcinema Leave a Comment

Slightly Incongruous Thoughts on TWD 6A

Editor’s note: Although I have had occasion to wax un-poetically about some of the television I enjoy, the original plan was not to post this review here on my main blog. However, as I started to write, it became a little longer than I had planned so please indulge me and hopefully enjoy my take on season 6A of The Walking Dead.

walkers on parade
Walkers on Parade. Photo credit: AMC Networks.

Well it is early December and we are at the midday point of the sixth season of The Walking Dead.

At this point in the season and the show at large, folks like me will begin to Monday quarterback what we have seen over the past eight weeks, casting a critical eye and waiting with bated breath for the first signs of fatigue for a show that for the last few years appeared to show no signs of slowing down; a challenge with this or any show that has had a decent run, is to keep the stories and characters fresh. This keeps the audience on their toes, begging for more and wanting to see what is in store for the not-so-merry band of zombie apocalypse survivors.

Onto my thoughts. While it definitely had its noteworthy moments and really good episodes, overall season 6A definitely tested the limits of my patience when watching a show live week-to-week. The pacing and plotting was a bit up and down and I felt like we spent an unnecessary amount of time with people (read most of the Alexandrians) whose collective fate I was not all that concerned about (sorry).

Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

And then there was the whole ‘Glenn Death’ thing, which I will not delve into simply because a large part of the fumble with this story arc would us meta*, and I just want to stick with the narrative as I saw it occur on my screen.

Allow me a sec to jump back before I move forward onto the episode that wrapped up the first eight episodes, Start to Finish. As you watched the episode, you were certain to pick up the title being said in dialogue (by a dying Deanna Monroe, played by force of nature Tovah Feldshuh), but for the general population, the title may have also incorrectly signaled a conclusion to this chapter of the story, kind of the way that Coda from last season did. Fast forward to a year later and that is not exactly how it played out here. By the end of the 43-minute run time, we were left with poor, ill-fated Sam calling out to his seemingly unaware mother, “Mom. Mom. Mom.” And then … fade to black! Wait, what? That’s it? Yes indeed, that was it.

Now I will say that this was not a bad episode by any stretch; it was a pretty solid one with a cliffhanger. But it was not what we have come to expect in our “midseason finale.”  And therein lies the problem.

The way the television universe currently operates, we as an audience are hungry for the next earth-shattering “OMG” moment/water cooler conversation talking points (usually triggered by the demise of a major character). Actually this is not so different than in times past – but the proliferation of social media highlights and magnifies the audience’s reaction and engagement with what they are consuming. When we get that moment, great, when we are less than satisfied with the payoff or lack thereof, cue the rotten tomatoes. Add to this the contrivance known as the midseason hiatus and you have the potential recipe for a momentum killer.

Because of this weeks/months long break within a season, we for all intents and purposes now have TWO seasons, which for me, sets an expectation of each part being neatly book-ended as much as possible – not necessarily a full conclusion, but more like we have a nice balance of resolution in some areas and a few breadcrumbs that will leave us curious enough to come back for more. Did 6A do that for me? Read on to the end to find out. But before that …

… here are a couple of other points worth mentioning. They serve as counterpoints to my argument presented above and I hope offer some perspective:

1) Giving You (TWD) the Benefit of the Doubt. Hell, the show is in its 6th season, has redunkulous ratings, a loyal, passionate fanbase and makes tons of money for AMC. That is a lot of televisual capital in the bank. So maybe, just maybe the creatives can be given some leeway to spend some of that goodwill in trying out new ways to entertain the audience? Say spend seven of the first eight episodes looking at 24-36 hr window from multiple perspectives? It is definitely ambitious storytelling to be sure. But a key is to make sure it is tight. In this instance, as I watched and re-watched it felt like a case of being locked in and committed to a storytelling device to the point where it may be a liability to the actual story. We won’t know for sure until late March/early April 2016, which leads to my next point ….

2) The Long Run. Right now, I am confident that by episode 16 (yeah I know), there will be a narrative payoff that will present a completely satisfying picture at the end. I do feel like the ability to effectively implement this “long game” approach to storytelling is a clear advantage a pay cable show such as Game of Thrones has in creating its arcs for a season. Not only are the producer given essentially a full hour (usually falls in the 50-55 minute range), but the show runs for a consecutive 10 weeks (give or take a holiday). So even while the season is shorter, GoT is able to get through its story without the concern of going on an overly long hiatus. Unfortunately, when you try a similar format on a show with a pretty long hiatus, the result is well, TWD 6A.

Enough of that; now onto 6B. Simply stated, I am really looking forward to the back half. I have a vague understanding of what may lie ahead and as I said above; with it comes the promise of a narrative payoff in both the short and long term. Beyond that, I am so invested in the characters it would take a whole hell of a lot to get me to turn away and not look back.

In other words, that means come Valentine’s Day, you will know where to find me … nestled comfortably in my bed, hot cocoa at the ready, and tuned into AMC.

Finally a Valentine's Day to look forward to. (Photo Credit: AMC Networks)
Finally a Valentine’s Day to look forward to.(Photo Credit: AMC Networks)

———————————

* Speaking of meta, there was also the prologue for 6B that inconveniently aired during the first ad break of AMC’s latest venture, Into the Badlands. I think if the scene aired post credits (like most of these have done in the past) it would have worked to the episode’s favor. But again this is kinda meta, but it is something worth thinking about.

 

Filed Under: Reviews, Television Tagged With: amc's the walking dead, the walking dead, the walking dead season 6 the walking dead, twd

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